Title:
Use of Ground-penetrating Radar to Characterize Hydrostratigraphic Units Within a Georgia Coastal Plain Province

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Author(s)
Feild, James B.
Johnson, West W.
Sermon, Nina
Burkingstock, Bryan K.
Dowd, John F.
Garrison, Ervan G.
Bush, Parshall B.
Authors
Advisor(s)
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Supplementary to
Abstract
The fate of pesticides/herbicides in a watershed depends upon important hydrologic pathways. In the Coastal Plain of Georgia, the presence and extent of semi-confining lithologic layers dictates the potential for contaminant movement into the local water table. This study used ground penetrating radar to characterize subsurface hydrostratigraphic units on a Coastal Plain study site. Groundwater monitoring wells were installed at various locations at the site, and soil samples were collected and described. The site lithology is characterized by a fine grained quartz sand which is underlain by a clay-rich indurated sandy loam (CRISL). These soil samples are only point descriptions and do not describe the continuity of the layer. Therefore, ground penetrating radar was utilized to map the lithological features of the CRISL and determine the continuity of this layer. Analysis of the ground penetrating radar data suggests the CRISL (semi-confining layer) is discontinuous, and the discontinuity is elongated at the region along the ephemeral stream that drains the watershed. This geometry may be used to accurately illustrate unsaturated/saturated flow in a contaminant transport model.
Sponsor
Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date Issued
1997-03
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Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings
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